Our first winter in the wilderness was about as cold as it could get. Hubby still worked an hour away and I stayed home minding the house and kiddies. I also guarded the fire to make sure there was enough wood inside to keep it going constantly lest we all freeze to death. There was very little fuel for the rumbling furnace so I saved that in case the wood ran out.
One bright and sunny morning hubby made the fifty mile trip into work only to find his coworkers who lived much closer could not make it in because of the wind and blowing snow. It would be three days before we saw him again.
Shortly after hubby left the radio announced school would not be in session due to heavy, drifting snow. I looked out the window to find only about an inch or so of snow on the ground. Have I mentioned that our driveway was a mile long and mostly downhill. So apparently all the bad weather was blowing overhead and across our valley. I also need to remind you we still did not have a phone.
Along about six o'clock, dinner was ready, the kiddies had played nice all day, and I was in a good mood and waiting for hubby to come home. I was still waiting at seven, eight, nine, and ten. We did eat around seven and the little ones went to bed on time. I finally drifted off about midnight with no sight of my husband.
At ten o'clock on Saturday morning I heard a knock on the door. It was a very tall man and a young boy. I looked around and there was no car in the driveway. I hesitated but finally opened the door a little, after all how many bad guys bring a child along.
"Hi," he said, "I'm the sheriff." Now by this time I had not seen my husband for two days. I had no phone to check on him, we could not get television reception, and the only outside world info I knew was what I heard on the radio. So when I heard the sheriff was at the door all I could think of was that hubby was wrapped in bandages, lying all alone in a hospital somewhere, and the weather reports were telling me there was no possible way I was going to be able to get to him.
I won't keep you in suspense. Hubby was fine. He had called the sheriff to come check on us and let us know he was unable to get home due to the weather. He was staying with a bachelor friend of his in a nice warm (modern furnace, running water, television, indoor bathroom, telephone, and everything convenient) house not far from his office.
The weather broke that afternoon and hubby was finally able to make it home on Sunday when the roads had been cleared. Needless to say we were all happy to see him and the milk and diet coke he brought with him. He was surprised that we still only had an inch of snow on the ground but he was even more surprised that all we wanted to hear about was what it was like to live in a modern house again.
